Happy crew

So, it's a little hard to be silly and trivial these days, what with impending totalitarianism and all that after the rise of Donny, but let's give it a go.

Wonder Wife and I stopped at the local Value Village last night, and as usual I checked out the bagged toys looking for D&D minis (as if I needed any more). I didn't find any, but I did find a bag that I thought would be good for a $3 diorama (remember those?) because it appeared to hold both Marvel and DC characters (and I could re-create JLAvengers or something). However, it instead contained an extensive collection of what appear to be slightly off-model DC character figures that were 2011 Mickey D happy meal prizes; some of them are pretty off-beat, as we shall see:

Batman

Nothing odd here, you'd expect to see him in any collection. This looks a lot like the Michael Keaton batsuit, so that's a little odd.

Batman

Here's another Batman in different suit, but it doesn't look like one of the specialty suits, for underwater or space or something. It just looks like the classic suit, but with mis-colored gloves, trunks, and boots. Need a little QC here, folks.

Riddler

Batman needs a foe, I guess. Too bad they couldn't punch the flash out of the question-mark staff - it sort of just looks like a shovel.

Flash

 

This collection predates the CW show, and this is more the classic look anyway. But boy he's awfully beefy.

 Spectre

What kid wouldn't want to play with the embodiment of the Wrath of God?

Firestorm

This is kinda cool, what with his translucent legs and hair and power... blob... thingy, but it's so off-model I'm really just guessing.

Black Manta

Aquaman isn't here, but one of his arch-enemies is... with a strangely flattened head. And bendy arms?

Sportsmaster

I'm totally guessing here. But this Green Lantern villain is the only comic book character I know that could/might wear a baseball glove and a goalie's pad at the same time.

Y'know, now that I think about, these must have been issued during the run of the Batman - The Brave and The Bold cartoon on TV - that show was know for its stocky, square-jawed character designs and for its eclectic cast of guest stars drawn from all over DC comics. That makes sense.

Anyhow, that's what was in the bag, along with one other prize I might share separately. 

Just don't ask me why these guys are all posing in front of a pink castle. That's another story.

Comics Return to Maui

So, I recently learned some Hawaii factoids: there are nine comics shops on Oahu, three on the Big Island, and just one on Maui. That shop used to be Compleat Comics, which I visited in its temporary digs in 2007 shortly before it closed for good. But after almost ten years of no comic shop on the island, a new Maui institution has arisen in its place:   
 

Maui Comics and Collectibles fills a small storefront in the same open-air mall that the Compleat Comics stall was in; I spent some time there on the way back to the Kahalui Airport at the end of my recent trip.

The storefront is a bit unassuming  - it's difficult to see the posters and such because the windows are tinted.

(If you were to print out this panorama and wrap it into a ring, you could get a VR scene of the store: essentially one small room that effectively maximizes the display space. )

The space is very welcoming despite its size: Maui Comics is one of the most fun shops I have been in. It has a large selection of new titles and a surprisingly extensive range of back issues. My particular interest lay in the local Hawaiian comics scene - I had read some articles about good homegrown stuff coming out of the islands. I had a great conversation with the young man running the shop, who filled me in on the latest news, recommended a few titles, and commiserated with me that back issues were not available because of the short print runs. I wound up taking home issue #3 of 'Aumakua and issue #1 of Native Sons (about which more in a future post).

And this is perhaps the most appealing aspect of Maui Comics: it's clear from the staff and the time they spend with the customers, from the store itself, and from its social media presence that Maui Comics exists not just make money or even fill a niche, but to promote and foster the love of comics on the island.

The in-store materials reflect this, with a mixture of standard industry posters and pieces by and about local artists on the walls:

The store was also the impetus behind Maui's first-ever Comic Con - which I missed by about eight weeks!

All in all, I can't say enough good things about Maui Comics and Collectibles. If you make a trip to the island, be sure to include a stop here on your itinerary. It's well worth it.

Oh, and there's this: I visited Maui Comics and Collectibles two years to the day after I made my visit to see Mike Sterling at Sterling Silver Comics in California. How comic-bookally coincidental!

Cosplayus Obscuras

So,  yesterday was the observance of Halloween, as least for adult costume parties, at least in these parts. Last year, being new to the City of Subdued Excitement, we had a quiet night at home; this year, we were invited to two parties. Yay, burgeoning social circle! We were told by friends that costumes should demonstrate some intentionality; the impression I got was that no one would be openly mocked but perhaps silently judged. We tried to rise to the task.

I put together a recreation of old, one-armed Oliver Queen from Dark Knight Returns, complete with synthetic kryptonite arrow.

The clothes were easy, and it all fell into place when I figured out how to use a pirate beard backwards for the hair. I even added the gunshot wound to the right thigh.

Unfortunately, we didn't get a lot of pictures, so here's the best of bad lot, from before I really figured out how hide my not-missing arm:

I am considering this practice for cosplay at a comic con somewhere. No one at either party had the slightest idea who I was; I figure at a con, maybe 1% will get it.

And just to show that the family that geeks together squeaks together (?), Wonder Wife came as a 5th level Cleric of Ehlanna from D&D 3.5.

 Happy Halloween!

Con-clusion

So, is there a word for "that was fun but I am glad it's over"?

The Outside Comic Con adventure is over and the main feeling is that of exhaustion. I am sure the unusually high heat and humidity in San Diego contributed to this response, but in any case Comic Con is a lot of work when you're not attending;  I can't imagine how much work it is when you are attending. Just having to deal with crowds and lines at every step of day, for things like eating and traveling as well as any events, gets tiring pretty quickly, at least for this silverback geek. I'm pretty sure I would demur even if offered an all event-badge and free condo in the neighborhood. I like the celebration of pop culture and all the previews and the special events, but two things (besides the muss and fuss of lines and crowds) give me pause.

One is the sheer magnitude of the amount of resources thrown at this thing: as I do with political campaigns, all I can think sometimes is the better uses we could put all this money, time, energy, and inventiveness toward. The other is the classism present in the event. The image of black SUVs with sullen drivers and smoked windows having a path cleared by private security was not a rarity: at Comic Con, as in many places, there were the Important People, who don't stand in lines or crowds and who are handled and managed to avoid inconvenience. A glimpse of these folks on a balcony interview elicits oohs and ahs from the throng and a brief wave is the reward to the masses. I can't imagine Jack Kirby participating that way. Ah, well.

We spent the last day of the weekend on the Embarcadero; close enough to see one of the giant building signs for a new TV series, but far enough away that Comic Con might as well have been a rumor, but for the signs on restaurants and shops advertising discounts for badge holders.

Karminator confounded me by easily reading the word NAVY on the building with the curved roof. Her perception score is through the roof and with her new glasses she always rolls high.

The Midway, a carrier-turned-museum, the model for the Battlestar Galactica.

 Not so much a Sinatra impersonator, but more a Sinatra evoker. Like a lot of casual cosplay.

Lots of Tall Ships in San Diego Harbor - here's just one.

I can't close out the album without mentioning what a great traveling companion Karminator is. We first met through a D&D Meetup event, gamed together, and became friends. She is smart and geeky, a great gamer and role-player, and even had us over just so Wonder Wife could hug her chickens. On this trip, she was so easygoing, flexible, and generous of spirit in everything from eating, to scheduling, to changing travel plans at the last minute - not to mention going to Comic Con even though the promised badges never materialized without a complaint. Thanks, K.

And of course, the best part of the trip was getting home to Wonder Wife and Bully Boy the Wonder Cat, who had had their own adventures while I was gone.

Now, I have to go to work today, so if you'll excuse me...

Con-sequences

So, let me just say for the record that it turned out to be a good thing that I didn't get San Diego Comic Con badges: it is clear that we would not have survived. While I have always know it intellectually, this weekend in Outside Comic Con has driven home viscerally that Comic Con is about two things: lines and crowds. Three exhibits:

Exhibit A:

See those tents outside the Convention Center? Those aren't exhibits: they are shade protection for the lines that form outside the center. What lines for what, you ask?

Exhibit B:

This is Brittany. We met Brittany at about 2 pm on Saturday. She was in the line designated for "Everything but Hall H" because she wanted to get in first in Sunday. Yes, she'd be camping there the the rest of the day and all night. And this is after she had been in the same line Friday ti get in early n Saturday, but when she had finally gotten in she way 'way to the back" and it wasn't worth staying.

Exhibit C:

This is the crowd that was perpetually gathered around the door of the Hard Rock Cafe, which was totally dedicated to the new Suicide Squad movie. As we wandered around the neighborhood, we had to go past this throng several times. All these people are waiting for a glimpse of a movie star walking from the exit of the club to a vehicle - that is, from that beige pillar on the right side of the photo to just past that traffic sign on the left side of the photo. This crowd never dispersed.

So, as we tried to make a day in this madness, here's how it went:

• We went to an activation* for Thunderbirds Are Go!, the Amazon series. (An activation is a trailer with props, interactive events, and some more-or-less immersive experiences.)
• We had brunch.
• We went to an art gallery featuring a show of fifty artists celebrating Star Trek.
• We toured Camp Conival, a mock nerd summer camp on the mezzanine of Petco Stadium.
• We tried to find Gam3r Con, a small gaming convention that happens the same weekend, but it turned out to be really small and hard to find, and ultimately not worth the price if admission for the time we had to spend. We did get a nice walk in.
• We hung out at a small cosplay photo shoot on top of the Convention Center.
• We had a late lunch.
• We went to an activation for Timeless, a new TV series.
• We went to a Wonder Woman cosplay gathering.

We stood in line for about ten minutes and 25 minutes for the two activations, and had to shuffle through a security checkpoint to get into Petco Stadium, but otherwise no lines. Nonetheless, we were exhausted and called it a day by about 6:00 pm when our feet could take no more.

Here are some highlights.

Con-ish stuff:

My favorite part of the Thunderbirds activation was a display if the miniatures used in production, like this little city.

Free photo from the interactive portion of the activation.

The Star Trek art show was in a real gallery and had some nice pieces.

Camp Conival was kind of  hot mess - a ballpark does not have the best acoustics for podcast panels:

There were lots of goofy fun things, though.

The Timeless activation included Hindenburg zeppelin stuff, so of course I was interested.

Elvis impersonators on stilts promoting the newest Sharknado movie with the slogan "Viva Sharknado." I have no idea why.

Cosplay:

Too much to record; here's just a few.


Enthusiastic Robin.

Passing alien.

Excellent Zena and Gabrielle.

Wonder Woman, Bombshell version.

Wonder Woman, classic Lynda Carter version.

Karminator's Wonder Woman cazh-play with free cardboard bracelets.

Random stuff:

We stopped in the Central Library and this art piece hung on the wall.

These trucks used to cruise Brooklyn when I was a kid - I hadn't seen this logo in a long time!

Very cool, if you ask me.

It had great wall art, too.

Don't know if this was directed at the nerd crowd or it it was just coincidental.

 Some things never get old: the crowd roared when this came by.

Finale

Hot tub + feet = ahhhh.

Fireworks from the area of the Con seen from the hotel balcony as we called it day.

Our flight back leaves tonight. Not sure how much energy either of us has for today.